Historical

Heroes are hard to come by - but there's one man whose legend has stood the test of two centuries, and whose name sits on Australia's highest peak. Tadeusz Kosciuszko: freedom fighter, friend of Thomas Jefferson and champion of liberty on two continents.

Our heroes can come from the most ordinary of places. As a shy young lad growing up in country Victoria, no one in the district had any idea the man Albert Jacka would become.

The story begins in 1629, when the pride of the Dutch East India Company, the Batavia, is on its maiden voyage en route from Amsterdam to the Dutch East Indies, laden down with the greatest treasure to leave Holland....

The iconic Australian exploration story - brought to life by Peter FitzSimons, Australia's storyteller....

The Mongol army led by Genghis Khan subjugated more lands and people in 25 years than the Romans did in 400....

The 38 letters written by Rockefeller to his son imparting his perspectives, ideology, and wisdom to his son....

Titan is the first full-length biography based on unrestricted access to Rockefeller’s exceptionally rich trove of papers. A landmark publication full of startling revelations, the book indelibly alters our image of this most enigmatic capitalist....

Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winks at us - an ambitious urban entrepreneur who rose up the social ladder, from leather-aproned shopkeeper to dining with kings....

The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon is a fascinating, detailed account of Japanese court life in the closing years of the 10th century....

J. Robert Oppenheimer, an iconic figure of the 20th century, was a brilliant physicist who led efforts to build an atomic bomb but later confronted the moral consequences of scientific progress....

From age 15 to 40, David Hackworth devoted himself to the US Army and fast became a living legend. In 1971, however, he appeared on television to decry the doomed war effort in Vietnam....

One of the classic volumes of autobiography, My Early Life is a lively and colourful account of a young man's quest for action, adventure and danger....

Telling the story of their lives from children to modern day, this fascinating and revelatory book will look at the fraught relationship (and fiery rivalry) between King Charles and Prince Andrew....

Kate Kelly has always been overshadowed by her famous brother Ned, but the talented young woman was a popular public figure in her own right. This moving biography tells her astonishing story in full for the first time....

Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch watchmaker who became a heroine of the Resistance, a survivor of Hitler's concentration camps, and one of the most remarkable evangelists of the 20h century....

This is the story of the rise to national power of a desperately poor young man from the Texas Hill Country....

Mark Mathabane was weaned on devastating poverty and schooled in the cruel streets of South Africa’s most desperate ghetto, where bloody gang wars and midnight police raids were his rites of passage....

The definitive, fascinating, all-reaching biography of Dr. Seuss....

At Victoria station the R.T.O. gave me a travel warrant, a white feather and a picture of Hitler marked 'This is your enemy'. I searched every compartment, but he wasn't on the train....

Lust, science, adventure - Joseph Banks and his voyages of discovery....

Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), credited as the inspiration for radio, robots, and even radar, has been called the patron saint of modern electricity....

One of the most popular accounts by an Australian veteran of WWI - written entirely from the private soldier's point of view....

At the heart of the book is its unprecedented revelation of how legislative power works in America, how the Senate works, and how Johnson, in his ascent to the presidency, mastered the Senate as no political leader before him had ever done.

In this epic 1885 work, General Ulysses S. Grant, 18th president of the United States and staunch supporter of the Union cause, set the record straight on his storied life and career. At its heart is Grant, victor and eyewitness to the defining moments of the Civil War....

Helen of Troy is one of the most evocative names in ancient history. For nearly three thousand years she has been both the embodiment of absolute female beauty and a reminder of the terrible power that it can wield....

Maria Theresa was the single most powerful woman in eighteenth-century Europe. At the age of just twenty-three she succeeded to the Habsburg domains only to find them contested by almost every power in Europe. In this engrossing biography, Richard Bassett traces Maria Theresa's life and complex legacy. Drawing on hitherto unpublished sources, Bassett reveals her keen sense of moderation and tolerance, innovative ideas on free trade and finance, and studied reluctance to resort to policies of territorial expansion.

Andrew Mellon, one of the most accomplished businessmen of his era, is almost unknown today. To this shy, diffident (but brilliant) man fell the daunting task of collecting the war debts from European governments still devastated by WWI and struggling to recover economically. Dealing with the US Congress and the heads of foreign governments on the world stage became one of the great adventures of his life. Mellon vs. Churchill presents Winston Churchill through a different lens, focusing on his service as Chancellor of the Exchequer when Great Britain was the largest debtor to the US.

From ancient civilization to modern times, history is full of mysterious and downright bizarre circumstances. With these crazy and compelling facts, Hidden Histories will change your view of history

On August 25, 1944, Rose Valland, a woman of quiet daring, found herself in a desperate position. From the windows of her beloved Jeu de Paume museum, where she had worked and ultimately spied, she could see the battle to liberate Paris thundering around her. The Jeu de Paume, co-opted by Nazi leadership, was now the Germans’ final line of defense. Would the museum curator be killed before she could tell the truth—a story that would mean nothing less than saving humanity’s cultural inheritance?

This book presents the remarkable personal journals of German soldier Hans Roth. Writing as events transpired, he recorded the mystery and tension as the Germans deployed on the Soviet frontier in June 1941. In these journals, battles are described in "you are there" detail, as Roth wrote privately, as if to keep himself sane, knowing that his honest accounts of the horrors in the East could never pass through Wehrmacht censors.

Quintus Horatius Flaccus (65-8 BCE) wrote some of ancient Rome's greatest poetry, melding languages and cultures with youthful ideals and a realist's recognition of the dictatorial world around him. Horace is famed for his fine phrases, lyric sex, and guidance on how to live, but he was a poet maddened by war, and many of his most self-revealing poems have rarely been seen. He could be sublime and obscene, amusing and abusive, a model of moderation and anything but.

It started with a question from the British colonial government: Could the Malays develop an effective modern fighting force? So in 1933, a small batch of 25 Malay recruits were assigned to train with British officers in Port Dickson, Malaya: The 1st Experimental Company.

Striking where the enemy is weakest and melting away into the darkness before he can react. Never confronting a stronger force directly, but using audacity and surprise to confound and demoralize an opponent. Operations driven by good intelligence, area knowledge, mobility, speed, firepower, and detailed planning, and executed by a few specialists with indigenous warriors—this is unconventional warfare.

John Humphreys was just a boy soldier in the Royal Engineers when war was declared in 1939. By the war's end he had jumped into Arnhem with the Parachute Regiment to spearhead the attack on the bridge. For days Humphreys and the rest of his squad held on, outnumbered and outgunned by the German army fighting to the last bullet and refusing to surrender. But the Bridge Too Far is only the climax of Humphreys’ remarkable war. Twice captured as a prisoner of war, he twice escaped from the enemy to make his way back to Allied lines in order to rejoin the fight.

Claus Spreckels (1828-1908) emigrated from his homeland of Germany to the United States with only seventy-five cents in his pocket, built a sugar empire, and became one of the richest Americans in history. Migrating to San Francisco after the gold rush, Spreckels built the largest sugar beet factory of its kind in the United States. When Spreckels gave America its first sugar cube, he became the “Sugar King.” The indomitable Spreckels was a colorful and complicated character on both sides of the Pacific.

A true saga that tells of the flight of Paul, his wife Sophia and two young daughters, Tamara, and Isa from their beautiful Black Sea home in Odesa*. He is a wealthy farm-estate owner and holds the sole Mercedes agency for south Russia. The invasion of Russia by Germany in 1914, followed by the Russian revolution in 1919 means they lose everything. In Spring 1919 Lenin announces the Red Terror. This aims at the extermination of all bourgeoisie. Paul and family must flee for their lives.

Двух осиротевших мальчиков из племени навахов, усыновляет добрая семья племени тэва. Дети воспитываются в доброте, любви и уважении к своим приемным родителям, знакомятся с обычаями своего нового племени и стараются найти свое место среди тэва, доказав свою преданность семье и соплеменникам.

"Mögen diese Blätter mithelfen, ein Stück Vergangenheit zu begreifen und dem Leben dienstbar zu machen, das täglich seine Forderungen an uns stellt." Hans Graf von Lehndorff. Die Aufzeichnungen Hans Graf von Lehndorffs aus den Jahren 1945 bis 1947 schildern die Schrecken der Flucht, die Belagerung der zur Festung erklärten Stadt Königsberg, den drückenden Dienst in Lazaretten und Lagern sowie die ersten Nachkriegsjahre unter Willkür und Wirren polnischer und russischer Herrschaft.

The Autobiography of Charles Darwin. The famous English naturalist tells his life story, in his own words. From his birth, to the famed Voyage of the Beagle, to the Origin of Species, to his marriage and family and finally to his theories of life itself.

Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl is more than a historical document—it is a timeless exploration of the human spirit, capturing resilience, hope, and the complexities of identity in the face of unimaginable adversity. This in-depth analysis examines Anne’s personal journey during her two years in hiding, revealing the universal struggles of adolescence, the moral implications of war, and the enduring power of her words. Through her vivid reflections, Anne grapples with themes of self-discovery, family dynamics, and the search for meaning in a world torn apart by hatred and intolerance.

"The Girl of Many Crowns" is the true and inspiring story of Judith, the first princess of France, who is a pawn in a complex political game of chess as her father, King Charles, tries to hold on to his kingdom. King Charles, grandson of Emperor Charlemagne, is beset on every side by Vikings, rebel lords, and greedy neighboring monarchs. He marries 12-year-old Judith to Aethelwulf, the aging King of Wessex, for political advantage. When she is widowed, less than two years later, he arranges a second marriage for her.

Mein Buch – Die wahrhaften Seelenerinnerungen an die Zeit meiner Herrschaft – ist eine Retrospektive dessen, was ich als König Ludwig XIV. erfahren durfte, was mich bewegte, über meine Leidenschaft mit ihren Facetten, die nicht nur mich geprägt haben. Es ist die neue Ansicht von der Vergangenheit aus der jetzigen Position und einem Blick in die Zukunft, die uns begegnen wird. Jetzt, in der neuen Zeit, sind wir alle vereint in der Absicht der unendlichen Liebe, die uns trägt und die wir uns so wünschen. Liebe ist die Basis für Neues, für die Zukunft mit der Vergangenheit.

“I will not be triumphed over.” Step into a realm where ambition sparks and kingdoms teeter on the edge—where Cleopatra VII is more than a distant legend. She’s a fearless ruler forging her destiny against Rome’s unstoppable might. Whether you know her from Hollywood whispers or dusty textbooks,this immersive audiobook dismantles every cliché and pulls you into the raw heart of an empire’s final stand. Inside This Audiobook: A Ruthless Court: Assassins. Rivals. Political vipers hiding behind marble columns.

What exactly is this controversy about Netaji’s ‘disappearance’? Efforts by the authors led to the declassification of more than 1,300 secret files on Bose. Does new material offer new evidence on Bose’s reported death in 1945? The Bose Deception: Declassified opens a window to this and much more.

In the mid to late 1800's tens of thousands braved the harsh landscape of the Oregon Trail to settle the West. Common to most all of them is that they were families whose collective efforts shaped towns, commerce and the history of the West. The collected stories in After the Wagon Wheels evolved from genealogical research into some of those families. While fascinating to build our family trees, what often comes out is a picture of the life they led; the hardships, the joys, the adventures, vignettes of the people themselves.